IBM to Sell Data Recovery Software for Small Businesses
IBM is set announce plans on Friday to sell software that helps small businesses recover from computer crashes, expanding a technology it first developed for large companies.
The software, called IBM Tivoli Continuous Data Protection for Files, automatically copies data as
soon as it's entered or changed, allowing users to quickly retrieve lost information such as text
or customer lists.
IBM plans to start selling the program September 16 at $35 per laptop or desktop and $995 for each server processor, the chips which run high-powered computers typically used by businesses.
Computer servers used by small businesses of up to 100 employees typically have two to four such processors, an IBM spokeswoman said.
A company with 1,000 employees may have at least 50 server processors, said Dianne McAdam, an industry analyst at DataMobility Group, a Nashua, New Hampshire consulting firm.
While many big companies already have sophisticated data backup systems, small and medium-sized firms have been slower to protect their data, McAdam said.
Unlike competitors such as EMC Corp. and the Veritas business of Symantec Corp. whose crash recovery systems save data several times a day, the IBM software backs up information continuously, within seconds of its being stored, said Ron Riffe, IBM's director of storage software strategy, in an interview.
Small and medium-sized businesses are contending with a "data avalanche" vulnerable to computer viruses or crashes, Riffe said. IBM's program will especially help businesses whose employees spend a lot of time out of the office working from laptops, as well as employees who work from home, he said.
IBM plans to start selling the program September 16 at $35 per laptop or desktop and $995 for each server processor, the chips which run high-powered computers typically used by businesses.
Computer servers used by small businesses of up to 100 employees typically have two to four such processors, an IBM spokeswoman said.
A company with 1,000 employees may have at least 50 server processors, said Dianne McAdam, an industry analyst at DataMobility Group, a Nashua, New Hampshire consulting firm.
While many big companies already have sophisticated data backup systems, small and medium-sized firms have been slower to protect their data, McAdam said.
Unlike competitors such as EMC Corp. and the Veritas business of Symantec Corp. whose crash recovery systems save data several times a day, the IBM software backs up information continuously, within seconds of its being stored, said Ron Riffe, IBM's director of storage software strategy, in an interview.
Small and medium-sized businesses are contending with a "data avalanche" vulnerable to computer viruses or crashes, Riffe said. IBM's program will especially help businesses whose employees spend a lot of time out of the office working from laptops, as well as employees who work from home, he said.
